Newcastle defeat leaves West Ham desperate for Winston Reid’s return

Winston Reid’s extended absence has had a huge impact on West Ham’s season (Picture: Getty Images)

In the darkest hours of the Blitz, the people of the East End took heart from the leadership of Winston Churchill.

As West Ham’s season-long struggle continues following their latest Premier League defeat, once again Eastenders are left hoping a Winston can inspire them to victory – but this one is from New Zealand, not Blenheim Palace.

For all the attention paid to their problems up front this season, arguably the real reason for West Ham’s current plight is weakness at the back, much of it down to the absence of one player – Winston Reid.

With the Kiwi calling the shots in defence, West Ham kept six clean sheets in their opening 10 Premier League games; since he was ruled out with a long-term ankle injury in November, they have managed just three in 15 games in all competitions – tellingly, against the two teams below them in the league, Sunderland and Cardiff, and the one above them, Fulham.

Every setback for the other strugglers is a positive for West Ham. A week ago club co-owner David Gold tweeted that Reid had told him he was ‘close to a return’ and with three out of four games in February against teams in the bottom half of the table, his return cannot come soon enough.

Sam Allardyce sends on Andy Carroll but West Ham still fell to defeat (Picture: Getty Images)

No offence to Roger Johnson, drafted in on loan from Wolves earlier this month to add height and experience to the defence, but Reid is the player the back line and the whole team are crying out for. Johnson knows all about relegation battles, having been involved in them for each of the last three seasons at Birmingham and Wolves – but ominously for West Ham fans, they have all ended in failure.

Reid’s absence was felt yet again on Saturday as West Ham went down 3-1 at home to a Newcastle team who came into the match on a poor run of form. The home team’s defensive frailties were exposed as early as the 16th minute when Yohan Cabaye shot the visitors ahead.

Loic Remy doubled the lead before only a fine save from Adrian prevented Cabaye adding another, with Mike Williamson’s own goal just before the break giving the home fans something to cheer.

Andy Caroll’s second half introduction for his first home appearance of the season was another positive but he could not live up to the hoped-for script with a goal against his former side, and at the death Cabaye’s second wrapped up Newcastle’s victory and put West Ham back in the drop zone.

Sam Allardyce’s side should count their blessings that things are so competitive at the foot of the table this season – the bottom seven teams are covered by just three points – so February’s fixture list means that just a couple of decent results could make a huge difference to the standings.

If Reid is fit to play a part, those wins are a far more realistic proposition. If not, then the likelihood of the curse of Roger Johnson striking yet again grows ever greater.